Devil's Dyke - 25/03/2012

[CRM]

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've managed to be on here. I've been away, and life has this habit of keeping you busy, just when you don't want to be . Anyway, before I went away I wanted to see if I could catch the Pasque flowers in bloom. To be honest I didn't know if it'd be a success or not, but the weather was fine, so I caught the train out to Dullingham and cycled to the Dyke in the sun (which seems like a stranger at the minute !)

I walked up from the south, and whilst I was looking for the Pasque flower, I came across other wildflowers. It was a good opportunity to see some different viola species, which I hadn’t come across before, particularly V. hirta and V. odorata peach coloured form (Does anyone know the name of this form?).

When I came out of the woodland, the land become open and more like what I was expecting find. I thought, "Right, you've got to be here somewhere!". So I crossed over the railway line and began to look.

Well, pretty much straight away I saw a Pasque flower, ad it gave me one of the biggest grins. I think everyone that was walking by thought I must have been some sort of loony! I continued to search and search and for the rest of the afternoon, the only other ones I found were 2 others very close by, and a few buds just emerging from the ground. Even though the flowers are a very distinctive colour, they are not that easy to find when there are only a few in bloom!

Here are the pictures (hopefully the ID's are correct but please let me know if you think something different - after all that's how we all learn):



Viola odorata

Viola hirta

Veronica persica

Veronica hederifolia

Ficaria verna

Geum urbanum

Mercurialis perennis

Myosotis arvensis

Pulsatilla vulgaris

Pulsatilla vulgaris

I'd be particularly interested to hear from people about the Veronica ID's as I don't really know them. Also the Geum, and the Forget-me-not.

It was really great to see these amazing flowers (in such nice weather too), so glad I went out there! Amazing things. And nothing beats finding something you really can't wait to see !! Thanks for reading, and have a great day,

CRM.

[Dorts]

Hi CRM.
What a great day out, and thanks for sharing it with us.
I agree with all your ID's.
Your peach coloured Sweet Violet is Viola odorata var. subcarnea.
All the best.
Dorts.

[fairplay]

I'm really pleased you had a successful day, but I'm left wondering if you gave too much detail in your search for the elusive Pasque flower ?

Most experienced botanists know of the rarities from the Devil's Dyke and wouldn't dream of stealing our rare native flora from this site or anywhere else, but there will always be the hunter out there who will go to any lengths to achieve their goal.
Just a thought.

Neil.

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by fairplay

I'm really pleased you had a successful day, but I'm left wondering if you gave too much detail in your search for the elusive Pasque flower ?

Most experienced botanists know of the rarities from the Devil's Dyke and wouldn't dream of stealing our rare native flora from this site or anywhere else, but there will always be the hunter out there who will go to any lengths to achieve their goal.
Just a thought.
Neil.

Good point Neil. Perhaps a Mod. could remove that detail?
Dorts.

[CRM]

That's a good point fairplay. A moderator could change that, I don't seem to be able to edit my post now unfortunately. I will just mention though that when researching the Devil's Dyke where to find them was pretty well explained on various websites. All being said though I would be more than happy for my post to be tweaked!

[aeshna5]

I'm not sure anyone would travel any distance to dig up a Pasque Flower when they can be purchased for c£3 in a garden centre- far cheaper than travelling by car/train.

Also the current British Wildlife has a paper on Pasque Flowers giving all the best locations.

Yes there will always be opportunists who will try + dig up plants, but surely it's better to let everybody have the opportunity to enjoy these wild flowers + realise what jewels we have. A determined collectorwill probably be knowledgeable + know the locations anyway.

[CRM]

It is a sad thought though that because people feel that they want these plants so much in their own 'collection' they'll seek them out and gather them. Perhaps not with Pasque flowers so much but especially with those in Orchidaceae

P.s. Thank you Dorts for the Viola var. name, much appreciated

[fairplay]

I've been having a look on the internet and must admit there is quite a lot of info out there regarding this site but being a very long stretch, I 'd imagine it would be time consuming to travel here just to pinch some rare plants.

Probably the biggest threat could be little old lady's who take the attitude 'one or two' doesn't matter, but not realising their soil conditions must be just right for success.
Last year I managed to buy a second-hand copy of 'Ray's Flora of Cambridgeshire' (Translation - not the real thing !)by Wheldon & Wesley which had previously been owned by the Norfolk naturalist, Ted Ellis.

I really must visit this site one day.

Neil.

[alindsay]

Originally Posted by fairplay

Probably the biggest threat could be little old lady's who take the attitude 'one or two' doesn't matter
Neil.

Neil,

Very naughty ...... if you are going to malign old ladies, get your plural endings right .. while I collect a sweetie from this lovely old gentleman.

[fairplay]

Originally Posted by alindsay

Neil,

Very naughty ...... if you are going to malign old ladies, get your plural endings right .. while I collect a sweetie from this lovely old gentleman.

Aha ! Actually I say this from personal experience of two separate elderly ladies some years ago - one who had her husband drive illegally onto open access land, where she got out of the car, complete with garden fork and dug up several Erica tetralix (Cross-leaved heath) plants.
I arrived on the scene just as she was about to put them in her boot.

Playing the naive bird watcher I asked if they were for her garden to which she said yes and went on to say they were a different shade of Bell heather which she hoped would grow in her garden. I explained what they really were and that they are extremely local in the Suffolk Sandlings, only growing in damp hollows in peaty soil.
I reminded her she shouldn't be taking plants from the wild to which she said the heather is everywhere "What harm is there" ? I explained again this was not your everywhere heather, but as the plants were already dug there wasn't much I could do.
On leaving, the car became stuck, left nasty ruts in the soil and I had to help push the car out.

The other incident was 2 elderly ladies digging up native bluebells for their 'private nature reserve' - one held the carrier bag open whilst the other used the trowel. They were actually on somebody else's nature reserve during an 'open to the public' day.

I won't bore you with details, but the reason they wanted the bulbs was to "Hybridise out the Spanish bluebells in our wood" I was almost speechless.
And yes, I did tell the owner of the wood in this case.
These were the ladies who also said "One or two won't matter"

Neil.